Workholder for shapers



June 29, 1937. H. E. TAUTZ 2,085,235

.WORKHOLDER FOR SHAPERS Filed Feb. 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 5 INVENTOR ATTORNE Patented June 29, 1937 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE wommomaa FOR snArEns Herbert E. Tautz, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to The Delta Manufacturing Company, Milwaue kee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application February .19, 1936, Serial No. 64.6 10 3 Claims. 144-253) The invention relates to work holders for shapers, saws, and other machine tools.

The shaping of a work-piece on end grain has been a somewhat dangerous operation, especially 5 to an inexperienced operator, and particularly in the case of anarrow piece or small block. The

. work, having little or no bearing against the shaper fence, is apt to be deflected by the cutter during the forward and return strokes of the work.

and there is a. possibility of the operators hands being drawn against the cutter. A further disadvantage is that slipping of the work will cause inaccurate cutting and damage to the work. The

cutting of narrow or small'work-pieces on a cir- 5 cular saw, especially across the grain, is open to similar objections.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a work holder of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction for use on shapers and other 0 machines to enable shaping and other cutting operations to be safely, accurately, and quickly performed, even by inexperienced operators.

- Another object of the invention is to provide a work holder by which the work holder can be 25 presented to the cutter at a selected angle and clamped to the holder near the portion to be cut.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating cer- 30 taln embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a work holder constructed in accordance with the invention, applied to a spindle shaper:

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the work holder and 35 spindle shaper, parts of a shaper fence being broken'away;

Fig. 31s anend elevation of the work holder and shaper, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section; I

40 Fig. 4 is a plan view of a sliding base plate:

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5-5 01' Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 6-8 of Fig. 4, and 5 Fig. 'l is an end elevation of the work holder applied to a circular-saw machine.

In the form of the invention shownin Figs. 1 to 6, l0 designates a wood-working machine having a table ii and a cutter I 2. Themachine is 50 here exemplified by a spindle shaper, the cutter I 2 thereof being carried on a suitably mounted belt-driven spindle i3 projecting vertically through an .apertured table insert it, and the table top being provided with a guideway or groove 55 LIB A suitable cutter-guarding and work-guiding fence 65 is adjustably secured to the table and may be similar to that shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,947,885 for Work guide, issued February 20, 1934.

A flat rectangular metal base plate I6 slidably rests on the table top, and a guide bar or key I! is secured, as by screws l8, to the flat bottom face of the base plate. The guide bar I! slidably fits in the guideway iii of the table so as to confine 10 the base plate in a longitudlnalpath of travel past the cutter. One side edge of the base plate is adjacent a tangential plane of the cutter. The

flat top face of the base plate is above and parallel to the table top) The base plate is provided near its front portion with a miter gage head 55 which is swingably secured'to the base plate by a pivot screw- 56 held in place by a set screw 56' in the head, the miter gage head being slidable on the flat top face of the base plate, and the pivot screw 56 being located substantially in the longitudinal medial line of the base plate and being perpendicular to the plate. The miter gage head has an arcuate slot 51 concentric with the pivot screw 5 and receiving therethrough a clamping thumb-. screw 58. A pointer 59 on the base plate cooperates with an angular scale 60 on the miter gage head, and a swingable L-shaped stop member BI is carried on a stud 6| secured to the bar plate and cooperates with a number of adjustable stop screws 62 on the head for facilitating the positioning of the head to difierent angular positions. The miter gage may be similar to that shown in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,894,010 for Work holding means for gauges.

issued January 10, 1933.

The sliding base plate It is adapted to support a work-piece D thereon, the work-piece beingpositioned by the miter gage head 55 and being brought against the cutter I! by the advancing travel of the base plate. The base plate is preferably wide enough to extend to or beyond the opposite sides of the miter gage head, so as to protect the latter in all of its angular positions and to provide a broad support for the work piece, the base plate supporting the work-piece above and out of contact with the table top.

The base plate is provided with a number of tapped holes 63 near its opposite side edges to detachably receive therein the reduced threaded lower ends 01' posts or rods 61 forming parts of work-clamping means. Each post has a transverse opening 68 to receive a suitable turning tool, not shown, for tightening and loosening the clamps the block to the post.

post. The upper end of each post has a reduced threaded stem 69 which slips through a vertical bore It in a rectangular metal block ll. If desired, the blocks If may be of die-cast construction. A thumb-nut 12 on the threaded stem 89 Each block H is provided with a pair of parallel slots or openings 73 arranged on opposite sides of the bore ill and both opening at opposite side faces of the block, and is further provided at other opposite sides with tapped openings it to receive screws F5. The pair of spaced posts near each side of the base plate are connected by a pair of spaced parallel bars or straps it which slidably extend through the slots 73 in the blocks H. The bars are secured to the blocks by the screws 75 which either extend into openings ll formed in the bars (Figs. 2 and 5), or engage the outer faces'of the bars, so as to lock the bars against longitudinal shifting. One or more additional. blocks ii are slidably mounted on each pair of the bars 16, the bore iii of each block being screw-threaded to receive therethrough a clamping thumb-screw 33 which carries a swiveled clamping head or button it at its lower end engageable with the upper face of the work-piece D. As seen in Figs.

1 and 3, one of the clamping screws 58 is near that end of the work-piece which is to be presented to the cutter, so asto insure firm clamping of the work. This is particularly important with thin and narrow work-pieces, and also with short block-like work-pieces. The workpiece D, when of suihcient length, is clamped by the clamping screws near both sides of the base plate. For clamping a wide work-piece, additional clamping screws may be mounted on the bars. The stems 69 of the posts tl are of smaller diameter than the thumb-screws l8, so as to slip through the screw-threaded bores it in the blocks ii. If desired, the blocks for the thumbscrews it may also be provided with the screws it, but this is not essential. The posts 6? at the front portion of the base plate are placed at a sunicient distance in front of the pivotal axis of d the miter gage head. to avoid interference with the work when the miter gage head is swung to different angular positions.

. In the disclosure of my companion application for Work holders for saws, Serial No. 64,611, filed February 19, 1936, the same base plate 55 is used in conjunction vdthv another form of work clamping means, and for this purpose the base plate is provided with a transverse guide groove 22, a tapped opening it, and a scale 59.

In Fig. 7, the work holder is shown appliedto a circular-saw machine it having a table ll through which projects a saw blade M. The

. base plate it of the work holder slidably rests on the table H, the key it of the base plate slidably fitting in a guideway or groove it formed in the table top. A work-piece E is clamped on. the work holder, and is fed past the saw by moving the work holder along the table. One edge of the base plate is near-theplane of the saw and one of the clamping screws i8 is also near this plane.

In setting up the apparatus for shaping, the base plate it is mounted on the shapertable H to slide thereon, and the clamping devices aremounted on the base plate; The miter gage head aceaass is set to a desired angle and the work-piece D is rested against the base plate and miter gage head and is clamped in position by one or more of the clamping screws 18.. If desired, the workpiece may be abutted against the fence 65 to determine the depth of cut.

In operation, the shaping cutter I2 is driven from any suitable source-of power, notv shown, and the operator pushes the work holder along the table to bring the clamped work-piece against the cutter, thus imparting a predetermined shape to the end edge of the work-piece. The work holder is then retracted, and the work-piece is released. If the other end of the work-piece is to be similarly shaped, the work-piece is turned end for end and reclamped to the holder.

The work holder is particularly useful for the shaping of end grain, and avoids the dangerous practice of manually holding small and narrow Work-pieces on the table for presenting them to the cutter. Moreover, the firm clamping'oi the work-piece insures accuracy and avoids damage to the work-piece.

When the work-piece E of Fig. 7 is to be presented to the saw, it is clamped to the base plate and is positioned by the miter gage head. The operator pushes the work holder along the table to bring the clamped; work-piece against the saw, and then retracts the work holder.

Since one side edge of the base plate is adjacent the plane of the saw and one of the work clamps is also adjacent such plane, a short work-piece .can readily be clamped and safely presented to the saw.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A work holder for a machine tool having a cutter and a table with a guideway, comprising a base plate to slidably rest on said table and hav-' ing a guide portion engageable with said guide- Way, said base plate having a fiat work-supporting top surface extending above the tabletop,

and a miter gage head pivotally mounted on said base plate, the opposite side edges of said plate extending to at least the oppositesides of said miter gage head, and the opposite ends of the work-engaging portion of saidhead bearing on said-base plate and extending substantially equal distances from the pivotal arls of the head.

2. Work-holding means comprising a rigid member having a pair of spaced parallel openings therethrough and having opposite side walls at least one of which is provided with an apercured to said base plate approximately midway between the opposite-side edges of said plate and extending toward said opposite side edges, bars supported by and above said base plate adjacent the opposite side edges of the plate, and work'- clamping members adjustable'along said bars.

manner E. ram. 

